Self-sustaining culvert



June 2, E J AT H E A SELF SUSTAINING CULVER'I Filed Aug. 15, 1935 Patented June 2, 1936 I UNITED STATES PATENT I OFFICE SELF-SUSTAINDNG CULVEBT Edward J. Hatch, Creston, Iowa, and Eugene A. Stringer, Omaha, Nebr., assignors to Nebraska Bridge Supply and Lumber Company, Omaha, Nebr., a corporation of Nebraska Application August 15, 1935, Serial No. 36,426

6 Claims. (01. 138 -79) The present invention relates to culverts and Figure 3 is ,a detail face view of another cullike conduits which are usually embedded or vert section located adjacent the bracing section covered with earth to permit the flow of water and showing the ,filler strips or tongues thereon. or sewage therethrough, and an object of the Figure 4 is adetail face view of a third section '6 present invention is to provide a culvert which of the culvert showing the diagonally disposed is durable, of strong construction and which may beveled bu fi nd f the Parts t o and be produced andinstalled at low cost, and where- Figure 5 s a fragmentary section through t in the parts thereof may b mbl d quickly culvert showing adjacent sections in face abutand conveniently when building the culvert or ting relat o conduit. Referring now to the drawing, the culvert is 10 Another object of th inventi i t provide preferably constructed of woodof suitable standan improved means for conveying an tr ard dimensionssuch as 2 x 4s, 2 x 6s and the like of water throughembankments under highways, depending p the Size and Weight to b pstreets, and roads, and wherein the same will be P .T e Culvert s made p in a e 0 adequately supported. sections of substantially right angular form and 15 Another object of the invention is to provide e j i y o t e s s a e of the construcimproved;bracing means in the construction of tien Shown in Figure In t figu the ee- .a wood culvert wherein the culvert may be econ is madelip Of a plurality of Side pieces l0 nomically setup wherever required. each having a squared ,end I l and a beveled end 30 Another important object of the invention is The ibeveled'ends pp Corners of to provide a culvert or conduit in sections made t'ihe Sections, e l' t e p ces 0 ar up each of tongue a d grooved members so disposed in abutting relation and the intermeconstructed that the sections of the culvert may diate corners of the section e the sq ar be built at a factory .ior ready assembling at the ends d p d in right a ar abutt g rela- 5 location of installation and also wherein the cultion- The b v ds H are preferably on a 2 vert may be quickly d easily taken apart, or 45 angle so 'as to interbrace and hold the side knocked down when its e i no longer requjred pieces in substantially rectangular relation.

As h retof r practiced in t t, various These frame sections of the culvert are disposed pedients have been resorted to for securing culin any desired number in face o ace engagev t ti t th r h as dovetailing t ment asshown in Figure 1 and the frame sections 30 end of abutting pieces t reduce t manufacare alternately disposed in opposite relation to turing and assembling cost Such prior devices each other with respect to the beveled ends 12 and constructions however are easily disarranged of the Side P1669550 that the pp interor moved out of line by external pressure of the mediate joints between the Side pieces a e arth and th like enclosing t cmvert, and it arranged in offset and overlapping relation. The 35 is an object of this invention to provide a cul- Side Pieces y b p v ded with openings l3 v t t ti having transversely disposed therethrough for the reception of nails, bolts,

' braces which function to hold the culvert against rods the like adapted to be used for holding di t t or eparation as t its parts under the sections in laminated form to produce the 40 1 t 1 and other Strains body of the culvert of the desired length. 40

othe improvements and nove1 feature in the At suitable points throughout the length of the construction and arrangement f the parts will culvert the same is provided with bracing section's bev brought out in more detail in the following such as Shown in detail in Figure Each brac' description which, for a clear understanding of seqtion is Provided with lower beam the invention, is to be considered in connection Whlch 15 of conslderably greater length than the with the accompanying drawing forming a part gfig g g g gg zg g g thereof, and wherein is disclosed for the pur- S own l-gure to 0 e t, I culvertfrom turning or twisting under lateral pose of illustration one convenient and sat1sfacstrains This bottom or base section 14 is tory embodlmem of f mvefltlon vided with side pieces or uprights l5 adapted to 50 In the drawing, Figure 1 1s a perspectiv View register with the sides of the culvert and which of a culvert .or conduit constructed according to sup-port across their upper d a cross or top the featuresof the present invention. piece It which preferably extends slightly beyond Figure 2 is a-detail side elevation of one of the the outer faces of the uprights IS. The top and bracing eulveri seetienebottom sections or :beams .14 and I6 are prefer- 5 ably of twice the width of the side pieces 10 of the culvert sections and the uprights 15 are also of the same width as the side pieces I0 but are offset between the bottom and top beams I4 and I6 so as to lie flush with one side of the bracing section and to thus engage in face to face contact with the adjacent culvert section. As shown in Figure 3 the adjacent culvert section is provided with a pair of filler or tongue strips llwhich are secured to the side pieces Ill at the sides ofthe culvert and which are adapted to fit into the recess of the bracing section to fill in the space thereof and to insure the anchoring of the brace section in true alignment with the culvert sections.

Diagonally disposed sway rods l8 are disposed at opposite sides of the bracing section between the outer ends of the top piece l6 and the outer ends of the base beam l4, wedge shaped washers l9 being interposed between the clamping nuts of the rods l8 and the respective upper and lower faces of the beams l6 and [4. As shown in Figure 1, two of the bracing sections are employed. It is understood however that any desired number may be used depending upon the length of the culvert and the weight to be imposed thereon. The culvert sections, the bracing sections and the tongues may all be clamped or secured together by nails, bolts, rods or the like so as to rigidly hold the sections together and provide a rigid laminated culvert body and one which is substantially sealed against seepage through the walls thereof.

It is apparent that the various sections may be constructed at a factory or the like and assembled at the location of installation of the culvert. The culvert body may also be manufactured in laminated sections of desired length and assembled on the site of installation.

When it is desired to remove the culvert or to change the position thereof, such operation may be readily effected by separating the various sections to a more or less extent as desired so that the culvert may be knocked down, transported and readily reset at the new location.

The offsetting of the corner joints of the culvert sections provides alternately overlapping joints so as to increase the strength of the culvert and distribute the stresses imposed on the side pieces Ill evenly throughout the culvert structure. The advantage of the diagonal butt joint is had and also the advantage of the square end butt joint is had and these joints being overlapped throughout the length of the culvert insure a strong and sturdy construction wherein the joints are interbraced one against the other.

It will be obvious that various changes and modifications may be made in the construction, combination and arrangement of parts which could be used without departing from the spirit of our invention and we do not mean to limit the invention to such details except as particularly pointed out in the claims.

Having thus described our invention what we claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:-

1. A culvert comprising a laminated body of frames, each frame having opposed diagonal corner joints and intermediate square joints and with the diagonal and square corner joints overlapping to offset the planes of meeting of the side portions of the frames and to reenforce the joints against one another throughout the body, and the alternate frames being offset as to their Joints with respect to the intermediate frames throughout the body, and sway bracing frames interposed between said first frames for supporting the body against lateral crushing.

2. A culvert comprising a plurality of rectangular frame sections disposed in face to face contact throughout the length of the culvert, each of said frames having diagonal butt joints at opposed corners and intermediate square end butt joints, and the frames being alternately offset axially with respect to the intermediate frames with the diagonal joints overlapping the squared end joints to strengthen the culvert throughout its entire length, and bracing sections interposed between said first sections and having bottom extensions projecting beyond the opposite sides of the culvert body and including sway braces extending from said projecting ends to the upper portions of the bracing sections to support the body against lateral crushing.

3. A culvert comprising a laminated body portion of frames, each frame having corner joints with their planes of contact disposed in angular relation to each other about the corners of the frame and the intermediate frames being offset axially relatively to the alternate frames to overlap said joints throughout the length of the culvert, and bracing sections interposed between said first sections and having diagonally disposed rods extending beyond the opposite sides of the culvert body to brace the same and having recesses in one side, and filler tongues interposed in said recesses and adapted to be secured to the adjacent main sections of the culvert to interlock the same with the bracing section.

4. A culvert comprising a laminated body portion of rectangularly constructed frames having intermediate and alternate abutting ends in different angular relations, said frames being offset axially with respect to each other throughout the length of the culvert body for overlapping said corner joints, a bracing frame interposed between said first frames and having a bottom beam extending beyond the opposite sides of the culvert body and having a top beam projecting beyond the opposite sides of the body, diagonal brace rods interconnecting the projecting ends of the bottom and top beams of the bracing section, said bracing section having uprights between the beams thereof of less thickness than the beams and providing recesses in the side of the bracing section, and filler tongues carried by the adjacent body sections of the culvert and projecting into said recesses for interlocking the body and bracing sections and closing in the sides of the culvert.

5. A culvert comprising a plurality of rectangular frames having alternate and intermediate and abutting joints disposed in diflerent angular relations, said frames disposed in face to face contact throughout the body of the culvert and with said corner joints disposed in overlapping relation throughout the length of the culvert, a bracing section interposed between said frames and having top and bottom beams projecting beyond the sides of the culvert and having uprights interconnecting the beams and being of less width than the beams to provide recesses in the side of the bracing section, filler tongues fitting in said recesses and adapted to be secured to an adjacent body section of the culvert for holding the latter in line with the bracing section and sealing the latter in the culvert, and diagonally disposed bracing rods arranged exteriorly of the culvert body between the opposite ends of the beams of the bracing section.

6. A culvert comprising a laminated body oi. frames, each frame having opposed diagonal joints and intermediate square joints, the intermediate and alternate frames positioned to dispose diagonal joints across the square joints throughout the length of the culvert, said frames having alining apertures throughout the length of the culvert, means engaging through the apertures to secure the frames in horizontal alignment, and bracing means interposed between certain said frames for supporting the body against lateral crushing.

EDWARD J. HATCH.

EUGENE A. STRINGER. 

